I love St. Patrick’s Day! My dad always said I was a wee bit Irish – about half of my pinkie fingernail – but that’s enough for me to claim it with a smile. I think it all went to my toes and that’s why I love Celtic dancing. One of the things I love about St. Patty’s Day is that a certain hamburger chain with an Irish sounding name (or is it Scottish?) brings out the Shamrock Shakes.

Those smooth, green, minty shakes are one of my favorite traditions. Rather, they used to be. Between all of the chemicals in them (there are 54 ingredients according to this Huffington Post article!) and trying to lose some weight (820 calories in one 22-oz shake – YIKES! – also from the same article), I had pretty much given up these Spring delights. *sigh*

That is until I found this Pin for the Best Ever Copycat Shamrock Shake recipe from The Slow Roasted Italian. I was feeling lucky, so I grabbed my blender, some basic ingredients, and set off to make something magically delicious. (No, there is not any cereal with marshmallows in the ingredients list.)

The Pintesting:

It was going to be simple. Just put the shake ingredients into the blender, and blend. I put in the ice cream, milk, green food coloring, and went to put in the peppermint extract – but the bottle was empty. Don’t you just love it when someone puts an empty container back into the pantry or fridge? (GRRRR!!!) Now what was I going to do?

Thankfully I had another mint extract. Whew! On with the Pin Test.

I blended the shake ingredients together. The color looks good – very much like the Shamrock Shake.

Heavy cream + powdered sugar + whip = the best whipped cream. I usually add a few drops of vanilla, but since it wasn’t listed, it wasn’t added.

And here is the finished product – complete with cute Leprechaun-moustached straws and festive sprinkles.

*A note about this Pin Test* Since there are just two of us (the cat is a fussy eater and snubbed the idea of festive milk shakes), I halved the recipe for 2 servings since the full amount makes 4 servings.

The Pintesting Results:

Overall Rating – 5 Pins

Accuracy:  The shake was smooth, minty and creamy – just like the Shamrock Shakes. The color was very similar to the original version, too. The texture was perfect – not so thick that it got stuck in the straws and not so thin that it was runny and melty. It was just right. 5 Pins

Difficulty:  Put four ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Easy Peasy – 5 Pins

Time:  The shake, whipped cream, and festive presentation took about 10-15 minutes. That included the extra time to hunt for an alternative extract. It would take longer to drive down to the nearest McRestaurant and order drive through. 5 Pins

Cost: The ice cream was all that I had to purchase, and that was on sale for roughly $3.00 which is less than the cost of a large shake. Obviously you’d get more than one serving from a container, so I’m giving this 5 Pins

Practicality: This is very quick, simple and cost-effective way to get the taste of a Shamrock Shake at home – without tons of extra chemicals and “fake” ingredients. Yes, I know green food coloring has fake ingredients, so since it doesn’t affect the taste, those who are further along into the eating clean journey can leave it out. Either way – 5 Pins.